It was for the first time that any state government has honoured winners of awards presented by the Sports Ministry, an official spokesman said here.
On the occasion, Hooda honoured ten players and one coach with total prize money of Rs 24 lakh.
Those players who were honoured included eight Arjuna award winners, one Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award winner, one Dhyanchand and one Dronacharya winner.
The winners of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Dronacharya Award were given a cheque of Rs three lakh each, beside shawl and memento, whereas the winners of Arjuna and Dhyanchand award were given a cheque of Rs two lakh each, a shawl and memento.
Those who were honoured included Olympic bronze medal winner and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award winner Yogeshwar Dutt, Dronacharya Awardee Women Kabaddi Coach Sunil Dabas and Dhyanchand Awardee paralympics athlete Sukhbir Singh Tokas.
The eight Arjuna award winners included boxer Vikas Krishan, hockey player Sardara Singh, Kabaddi player Anup Kumar, polo player Samir Suhag, wrestlers Rajender Kumar and Geeta Phogat, judo player Yashpal Solanki and paralympics player Deepa Malik.
